That blog is interesting re mechanisms and the interconnectioness between all the major players- the banks. It's like a domino effects where one banks fails affects the other banks in the European sector.

UK banks are affected too because UK exports markets have a high market share than the Germans. It makes sense to the British to offer us the loans.

I wonder who had set up the laws/legaisation as regards to IFSC and their mechanisms?? That law needs to be revoked as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it will continue and continue without addressing the 'real' problem (unregulated in IFSC)

That blog is interesting re mechanisms and the interconnectioness between all the major players- the banks. It's like a domino effects where one banks fails affects the other banks in the European sector.

UK banks are affected too because UK exports markets have a high market share than the Germans. It makes sense to the British to offer us the loans.

I wonder who had set up the laws/legaisation as regards to IFSC and their mechanisms?? That law needs to be revoked as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it will continue and continue without addressing the 'real' problem (unregulated in IFSC)

ang posted this on the Anglo Timeline thread.

The IFSC basically want to manage their own affairs and are looking for a waiver from the financial regulator:-

IFSC institutions and other wholesale international banks operating in Ireland will call on the Financial Regulator to waive new corporate governance requirements for wholly-owned subsidiaries whose parent operations have equivalent requirements in another country.
The wholesale banks are also accusing the regulator of failing to meet basic standards of "necessary, targeted, transparent and proportionate" regulation, according to briefing documents seen by the Sunday Tribune.

German Financial institutions are particularly bothered by the new regulations and their stance is either you meet our criteria or we pull out:-

German banks and financial institutions will review their operations in Ireland if the Financial Regulator pushes ahead with controversial proposals on corporate governance, a powerful German industry lobby group has warned.

Describing the proposals as ‘‘unfeasible and unviable’’, the German Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce has told the Irish government that a number of its members had raised serious concerns about the proposals, and that they would review their investment in Ireland if they were insisted upon.

The chamber said the proposals would rule out the eligibility of nearly all current chairs of companies in the IFSC, while also disqualifying the majority of current board members of IFSC operations.

Without changing the proposals, the representative group warned that Ireland would ‘‘undoubtedly lose significant foreign investment’’ from banks and subsidiaries, and that its attractiveness to foreign investors would be diminished.

In a letter to Taoiseach Brian Cowen, the German chamber said the proposals would also ‘‘result in a dramatic reduction in tax revenue and an increase in unemployment with little chance for employees’’.

The group sent the letter to Cowen, following the publication last month of a consultation paper on corporate governance standards for banks and insurers.

Yes i mean the legislation. I don't think it was unregulated at first but it changed over to unregulated, which resulted in financial cowboy 'wild west'. That change in legalisation must have been signed off by our finance minister.

THE GOVERNMENT last night faced mounting pressure to curb 40,000 foreign-owned tax shelters here, following the embarrassing disclosure of sensitive data from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The blunder led to publication of the measures being considered by a top-level group to control the so-called Irish Registered Non-Resident Companies (IRNR) — which are threatening Ireland's international financial reputation.
The information was added, by mistake, to a reply last week to Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte.
He charged that Tanaiste Mary Harney had misled the Dáil by withholding information — though the charge began to run out of steam last night.
The detailed, private note prepared to aid the Tanaiste's Minister of State, Fianna Fáil TD Noel Treacy in the Dáil revealed that the Revenue Commissioners do not even know how many of the brass-plate companies are registered here.
The number setting up here has exploded since the mid-1980s when Britain tightened its laws: "This country is acquiring the reputation as a Cayman Islands of the North Atlantic," charged Mr. Rabbitte.
Mary Harney, responding to the allegations, denied, in London last night, there was any question of her concealing information and said Mr. Rabbitte's statement was completely inaccurate. She said Minister Noel Treacy had acknowledged, in his Dáil answer, the problem that existed, but it was premature to say what legislation was required because an inter departmental working group was still investigating the issue.
The Government was looking at the most effective way of dealing with the issue, she said.
The Tanaiste also said that Pat Rabbitte got his Dáil reply on February 18 and if Ministers had been misleading the Dáil, why, she asked, did he wait until now to draw it to public attention.
"This is a case of Pat Rabbitte going over the top," she declared.
Ms Harney was staying with friends in London last night.
Most of the companies pay no tax here because they do not operate in Ireland: "Some of them have been found to engage in undesirable activities worldwide such as fraud, money laundering and other illegal activity.
"The fact that they are Irish-registered reflects badly on the reputation of Ireland. More particularly, they are perceived as been regulated in the same way as companies operating from the International Financial Services Centre which of course they are not," said the briefing paper.
The IFSC has demanded action against the tax shelters for some time, though a study carried out by the country's six biggest accountancy firms, on behalf of the IDA, warned that Ireland could lose out on foreign investors.
However, Enterprise, Trade and Employment has a jaundiced view of the accountants' opposition: "They, of course have a vested interest in retaining the status quo because of the business it provides for them," said Minister Treacy's briefing paper.
It is difficult for Government to control use of the accounts since many perfectly respectable multi-nationals operating in Ireland use them to avoid having to repatriate profits to the United States.
The experts' group has considered three solutions:
The abolition of IRNRs;
To make it more difficult for them to register here;
The use of money-laundering legislation to wean out companies owned by criminals.
But, the Industrial Development Authority has urged caution.
"If the Government acts, then it will have to take action to help the companies operating here to restructure," a senior IDA source said.
In the short, written Dáil reply given to Mr. Rabbitte, Minister of State Treacy said the Government was "acutely aware" of the problems that some IRNRs are "giving rise to and of the urgent need to put measures in place to address these problems."
The expert investigation comprises officials from the Departments of the Taoiseach, Finance, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Revenue, the Central Bank, the IDA and IFSC and banking representatives.

SOME Irish registered, non resident companies could do untold damage to the International Financial Services Centre.
Torlach Denihan, of the Financial Services Industry Association, said that companies, over which the government has no control, could be passing themselves off as operators from the IFSC.They could be involved in crime and there is nothing Irish authorities can do about it.
Ireland is the only EU state which could potentially offer a safe passage for the ill-gotten gains of criminals who might use the companies office as a vehicle to cloak their illicit dealings and to hide money in overseas accounts, using the respectability given them by having an Irish registered non resident company.
Ten years ago the British government closed down the facility, leading to a huge rise in the number of firms registering with the Dublin Companies Office.
To what extent we are allowing our reputation to be muddied is not clear, but the matter has been under investigation for quite some time.
One of the issues that might cause concern is that multi-nationals can avoid paying tax on earnings they would otherwise repatriate. Having paid tax here US firms operating here can avoid paying tax on funds repatriated.
Any multi-national subsidiary, irrespective of its origin, is afforded that opportunity by the Non Resident Companies scheme.
By continuing to offer this facility Ireland is aligning itself with other tax havens and doing itself no favours.
Experts last night said the biggest problem for the Irish authorities is that they really have no control over those companies.
Those involved are more than likely legitimate but the government has no way of knowing.
International fraud or money laundering might be facilitated by this flaw, but we have no way of knowing, a source said.
One thing is certain, and this is Denihan's concern, the facility may do our reputation no good at all.
The US authorities could question how many of its companies in Ireland are using the device to avoid tax. This facility, according to one accountant, allows multi-nationals operating in Ireland to keep money in safe havens out of reach of the authorities in their own country.

Recall the stress test which took place four months ago, that issue sidetracked us for a while as a diversion. It was so illusionary as it doesn't take into account other factors such as timing,deposits withdrawn as time goes along etc. It's only a snapshot of that time ... nothing more or less as it doesn't reveal the true undercurrent which drive the fiscal problems upwards.

Recall the stress test which took place four months ago, that issue sidetracked us for a while as a diversion. It was so illusionary as it doesn't take into account other factors such as timing,deposits withdrawn as time goes along etc. It's only a snapshot of that time ... nothing more or less as it doesn't reveal the true undercurrent which drive the fiscal problems upwards.

In another words, stress tests doesn't work at all.

Indeedy. And it gets worse. The latest I've heard is that, in addition to telling the NAMA lads porkie pies (well done to Michael McGrath for highlighting that one), our bank employees have closed ranks, are now tighter than the legendary duck's @rse. The ODCE, Guards etc are fairly determined to prosecute, but without a few patriotically minded whistleblowers, where do they go for info?? Especially if everyone is refusing to hand over their passwords??

Those heads on a spike are not going to be easy to acquire.

Re German banks flying over to Ireland, I see a strange parallel with the abortion kerfuffles in the early 90's. I believe we had a referendum, no less, on the "right to travel to other EU countries to avail of services not legal within the boundaries of the state". SO.... German banksters rights to come over here to pursue dodgy deals may indeed be enshrined in our constitution??

Indeedy. And it gets worse. The latest I've heard is that, in addition to telling the NAMA lads porkie pies (well done to Michael McGrath for highlighting that one), our bank employees have closed ranks, are now tighter than the legendary duck's @rse. The ODCE, Guards etc are fairly determined to prosecute, but without a few patriotically minded whistleblowers, where do they go for info?? Especially if everyone is refusing to hand over their passwords??

How about getting them before Mr. Justice Peter Kelly in the Commercial Court and let him ask them for the passwords? If they refuse to divulge them, it's off to the 'Joy for contempt of Court. Indefinitely until they purge their contempt.